S.I. No. 480/2017 - Exchange of Information Relating to Tax Matters (Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China) Order 2017

1. This Agreement shall remain in force until terminated by either Contracting Party.

2. Either Contracting Party may terminate the Agreement by serving a notice of termination by letter to the competent authority of the other Contracting Party.

3. Such termination shall become effective on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of six months after the date of receipt of notice of termination by the other Contracting Party.

4. If a Contracting Party terminates this Agreement, notwithstanding such terminations, both parties shall remain bound by the provisions of Article 8 of this Agreement with respect to any information obtained under the Agreement.

In witness whereof, the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed the Agreement.

Done at Macao this 12th day of September 2016, in duplicate in the English, Chinese and Portuguese languages, all texts being equally authentic. In case of divergence between the texts, the English version shall prevail.

For the Government of Ireland

For the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China

Paul Kavanagh

Leong Vai Tac

Ambassador of Ireland to the People’s Republic of China

Secretary for Economy and Finance

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Government,

7 November 2017.

LEO VARADKAR,

Taoiseach.

5. A request for information shall not be refused on the ground that the tax claim giving rise to the request is disputed.

6. The requested Party may decline a request for information if the information is requested by the requesting Party to administer or enforce a provision of the tax law of the requesting Party, or any requirement connected therewith, which discriminates against a resident or a citizen of the requested Party as compared with a resident or a citizen of the requesting Party in the same circumstances. For the purposes of this paragraph it is understood that the term “a resident or a citizen” means

(

a

) in the case of Ireland, any individual possessing the citizenship of Ireland and any legal person or association deriving its status as such from the laws in force in Ireland; and

(

b

) in the case of Macao, any individual who is treated as a resident in accordance with the Basic Law of Macao and any legal person or entity created or organised under the laws of Macao.

Article 8

Confidentiality

Any information received by a Contracting Party under this Agreement shall be treated as confidential and may be disclosed only to persons or authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) in the jurisdiction of the Contracting Party concerned with the assessment or collection of, the enforcement or prosecution in respect of, or the determination of appeals in relation to, the taxes covered by this Agreement. Such persons or authorities shall use such information only for such purposes. They may disclose the information in public court proceedings or in judicial decisions. The information may not be disclosed to any other person or entity or authority or any other jurisdiction without the express written consent of the competent authority of the requested Party.

Article 9

Costs

Incidence of costs incurred in providing assistance shall be agreed by the Contracting Parties.

Article 10

Implementation Legislation

Ireland and the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China shall enact any legislation necessary to comply with, and give effect to, the terms of this Agreement.

Article 11

Mutual Agreement Procedure

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of

10

th November

, 2017.

WHEREAS it is enacted by

section 826

(1B) (inserted by

section 35

of the

Finance Act 2007

(No. 11 of 2007)) of the

Taxes Consolidation Act 1997

(No. 39 of 1997) that where the Government by order declare that arrangements specified in the order have been made with the government of any territory outside the State in relation to exchanging information for the purposes of the prevention and detection of tax evasion in the case of taxes of any kind or description imposed by the laws of the State or by the laws of that territory, and that it is expedient that those arrangements should have the force of law, and that the order so made is specified in Part 3 of Schedule 24A of the

Taxes Consolidation Act 1997

, then subject to section 826 of that Act, the arrangements shall, notwithstanding any enactment, have the force of law as if such order were an Act of the Oireachtas on and from the date of the insertion of a reference to the order into Part 3 of Schedule 24A;

AND WHEREAS it is further enacted by

section 826

(6) of the

Taxes Consolidation Act 1997

that where such an order is proposed to be made, a draft of the order shall be laid before Dáil Éireann and the order shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by Dáil Éireann;

AND WHEREAS a draft of the following Order has been laid before Dáil Éireann and a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by Dáil Éireann;

NOW, the Government, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by

section 826

(1B) of the

Taxes Consolidation Act 1997

, hereby order as follows